- TSA gang weighs major change to frustrating airport “security” rule for travelers who pay “PreCheck” bribes
Source: Fox News
“Travelers could soon be allowed to bring full water bottles through some airport security checkpoints — a major shift from longstanding airport security restrictions. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is weighing whether to allow TSA PreCheck passengers to bring water bottles through security checkpoints, according to reports. The change would apply to a select number of airports across the United States. … TSA PreCheck, which allows eligible travelers to use expedited security lanes and typically keep their shoes, belts and light jackets on during screening, generally costs less than $100 for a five-year membership, according to the agency.” (09/10/260
- China’s car exports in first 8 months surpass 2025 total, as EV sales soar
Source: Seattle Times
“China’s passenger car exports in the first eight months of this year already surpassed last year’s total, an industry association said Thursday, though domestic sales continued to decline. Passenger car exports in August jumped 67.1% from the year before to around 890,000 units, driven by plug-in hybrids and pure electric vehicles, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers (CAAM). China exported more than 6.2 million passenger vehicles in January-August. Exports of all types of vehicles totaled 7.1 million last year, CAAM data show, including about 6 million passenger vehicles. The world’s largest car exporter is on track to achieve 50% to 70% growth in full-year passenger vehicle exports, according to S&P Global Ratings.” (09/10/26)
- Twenty-five dead after fire on cargo ship in eastern China
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Twenty-five people have been killed in a fire on a foreign-flagged cargo ship docked at a port in eastern China, according to Chinese state broadcaster CCTV. Of the 42 people on board, 17 were were evacuated of which five are in hospital in stable condition, CCTV reports. The vessel was undergoing maintenance at a shipyard in the city of Qingdao when the blaze erupted at around 11:15 local time (03:15 GMT). It was put out just over three hours later, according to CCTV. Photos released by state media showed the vessel to be the Ocean Melody, a 190m (623ft) long Liberia-flagged carrier which arrived in Qingdao on 31 August, according to tracking site MarineTraffic.” (09/10/26)
- US regime publicly confesses to three more maritime murders
Source: United Press International
“The U.S. military has attacked another boat in the Caribbean, [murdering] three people, alleging the vessel was involved in narcotrafficking. The attack occurred Wednesday, the 69th publicly acknowledged strike in the Trump administration’s yearlong military campaign that has [murdered] at least 230 people whom the administration alleges were drug traffickers, though at least some of those [murdered] are believed to have been civilians. As is the case with such strikes, little information was made public by U.S. Southern Command, which conducted the strike, and described the boat as a ‘go-fast vessel operating along established narco-trafficking routes in the Caribbean.'” (09/10/26)
- Trump promises $500 Obamacare rebate checks for 1 million enrollees in 30 states
Source: SFGate
“The Trump administration is promising $500 rebate checks to an estimated 1 million Affordable Care Act enrollees across 30 states, who the White House alleged were overcharged by the Biden administration for exchange fees. … Enrollees who can expect refunds are those who do not receive premium assistance. Critics called the move a ‘gimmick’ that doesn’t represent a plan for addressing soaring healthcare costs. Trump in his address accused former President Joe Biden’s administration of ‘gross mismanagement’ of ACA funds, without providing evidence, and said that the Biden administration collected user fees from insurance companies that consumers paid through higher premiums.” (09/10/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/trump-promises-500-obamacare-rebate-checks-for-22425627.php
- Brazil: Supreme Court chief suspends colleagues’ rulings amid election row
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“The chief justice of Brazil’s Supreme Court stepped in Wednesday to halt conflicting rulings by two fellow judges as a dispute over alleged links between Justice Alexandre de Moraes and a banker accused of fraud deepened. The clash has spilled into the campaign for next month’s presidential election, adding to tensions around the court.” (09/10/26)
- Russian attacks kill seven in Ukraine as Kyiv targets gas plants deep in Arctic
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Russian forces have launched attacks across Ukraine, killing at least seven people, according to Ukrainian officials, as Kyiv claimed responsibility for a drone attack that set off a fire at a natural gas plant deep in Russia’s Arctic region. Four people were killed in a Russian attack in Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine overnight on Thursday, while three were killed in a drone attack on a shopping centre in the northeastern city of Sumy, according to Ukrainian authorities. … Russian authorities said Ukrainian forces had launched a drone attack on the country’s Yamal-Nenets region, which is located some 2,800 kilometres (1,700 miles) from the Ukrainian border. Dmitry Artyukhov, the region’s governor, said the attack targeted an industrial facility in Novy Urengoy. The attack was repelled, but falling debris from the drone caused a fire, he said on Telegram.” (09/10/26)
- Trump tries to pull GOP out of midterm hole he dug for it with $5,000 bribe pledge
Source: Le Monde [France]
“A defiant Donald Trump vowed on Wednesday, August 9, that Republicans would ‘surge forward’ in November’s midterms, seeking to rally his party against grim election forecasts, weak approval ratings and mounting voter discontent over prices and his war with Iran. The president took the stage at an extraordinary Republican midterm convention in Dallas, a two-day gathering dubbed ‘Trumpapalooza,’ built around persuading his supporters that he is effectively on the ballot on November 3. … He promised every American adult would get $5,000 from the federal government if his Republican Party succeeds. … He did not say where the money would come from, citing only that ‘our country is making so much money.'” (09/10/26)
- Israel: Netanyahu to sue Haaretz for defamation over report UAE warned him prior to October 7 attack
Source: New York Post
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that he had instructed his lawyers to file a defamation lawsuit against Haaretz, journalist Shlomi Eldar and others over the newspaper’s claims that the United Arab Emirates had warned him ahead of the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre. Netanyahu said reviews by the Prime Minister’s Office, National Security Council and military secretariat found no record of a conversation between him and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan from the beginning of September through Oct. 7, 2023. He also said entry records showed no visit by an Emirati representative who, according to Netanyahu, would have been required to facilitate such a call. … Haaretz reported on Tuesday, citing unnamed senior foreign sources, that Mohammed bin Zayed had warned Netanyahu shortly before Oct. 7 that Hamas was planning a major attack.” (09/09/26)
- Trump regime officials push to end constitutionally mandated censuses as of 2030
Source: The Guardian [UK]
“The Trump administration on Wednesday proposed changes to the US census intended to exclude immigrants without legal [sic] status in addition to other groups, with potentially significant effects on the allocation of federal resources and drawing of districts in the House of Representatives. In a proposed rule published in the Federal Register, the Census Bureau also announced it was considering changes to the data it collects about race and ethnicity, amid the Trump administration’s push to rid the government of diversity, equity and inclusion programs. Conducted decennially, the census historically counts the ‘whole number of persons’ in the United States …” [editor’s note: Counting the whole number of persons in the US is what it’s constitutionally required to do and all it’s constitutionally allowed to do. Anything less or more isn’t “the census” as defined therein – TLK] (09/09/26)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/sep/09/trump-census-changes-immigrants
- RI: Dan McKee becomes first governor in eight years to lose primary
Source: Politico
“Rhode Island Democratic Gov. Dan McKee became the first governor in eight years in the U.S. to lose a primary, falling on Wednesday to former CVS executive Helena Foulkes and becoming the latest victim of a rough year for incumbents. McKee’s campaign was bogged down by the botched handling of a years-long project to rebuild the Washington Bridge, which transports more than 70,000 drivers through Providence each day. The project has suffered from delays, cost overruns and disputes between state officials and former contractors that have raised questions about transparency and accountability for the project. … The last incumbent governor to lose a primary was Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer in 2018.” (09/09/26)
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/09/dan-mckee-loses-rhode-island-primary-01069983
- UK: Police launch criminal investigation into Reform UK donations
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The Metropolitan Police is carrying out a criminal investigation into Reform UK over allegations it broke foreign funding laws, following a broadcast by Channel 4 News last week. An undercover reporter recorded two senior Reform aides apparently suggesting a way around electoral law to secure foreign party donations, one of which would have totalled £500,000. The police investigation by the Met’s Special Enquiry Team is being folded into an inquiry that has been under way into other donations to the party. A Reform UK spokesman said the party ‘denies any wrongdoing and will fully cooperate with the investigation’.” (09/09/26)
- Serbia: Vucic calls snap parliamentary election for November
Source: Associated Press
“Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday called an early parliamentary election for Oct. 25 after nearly two years of street protests that have rattled his rule. He issued a decree dissolving the 250-member Parliament and paving the way for the vote. He said a snap election was necessary because of ongoing tensions and divisions in the Balkan country. Vucic, who cannot run for another presidential term, has said he plans to run for prime minister instead. … The ballot will be held against the backdrop of heightened political tensions as ruling populists seek to hold on to power despite widespread popular discontent.” (09/09/26)
- Zelenskiy’s plane almost hit by drone, Norway’s PM says
Source: Reuters
“The plane carrying Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to Oslo for the funeral of the king of Norway was nearly struck by a drone when taking off from Moldova on Tuesday, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere told public broadcaster NRK on Wednesday. … Officials in Moldova made no comment on Stoere’s statement regarding Zelenskiy’s plane. Arrivals and departures at Chisinau airport were suspended for a time on Tuesday in connection with two Russian drones that entered Moldovan airspace. Several flights bound for the capital landed at airports outside Moldova or were forced into holding patterns, according to data from Flightradar24. One drone landed in a field, triggering a fire, while the second carried on into Romanian airspace.” (09/09/26)
- Trump predicts Iran war will end ‘immediately after’ midterm election
Source: USA Today
“President Donald Trump has a new prediction for when the Iran war will end and Americans can expect gas prices to come down: immediately after the midterm elections. ‘I think the war is going to end immediately after the election,’ Trump said on Sept. 9, as he prepared to depart Joint Base Andrews for the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas. ‘I think the war will end immediately after the election,’ he repeated. Iran can’t hold out for longer than that, Trump said of the election that’s in 55 days. ‘They’re desperate to try and affect the election, so that we can get a nice group of weak people in there, and leave them alone, and let them have their nuclear weapon,’ Trump said.” [editor’s note: Legally, the war never began and continues to be wholly illegal – TLK] (09/09/26)
- MO: Court opens contempt probe into Republican official over redistricting fight
Source: NBC News
“The no-holds-barred fight over congressional maps in Missouri has reached a new level of intensity with the state’s high court opening a contempt probe into Secretary of State Denny Hoskins. The Missouri Supreme Court late Tuesday issued an order asking Hoskins, a Republican, to explain ‘why he should not be held in contempt’ for violating a ruling last week that said the state cannot use a newly drawn GOP map. Despite the ruling, Hoskins continued to push to use the new map. The court also ordered Hoskins to appear in person when the judges hold a hearing in the case Thursday. Hoskins indicated in a post on X that he would not back down. … Should the Missouri Supreme Court ruling remain in effect, a map drawn in 2022, with six Republican-held seats and two Democratic-held seats, would be in place for the general election.” (09/09/26)
- As deadline nears, temporary protections for 200,000 Salvadoran immigrants in limbo
Source: SFGate
“Temporary legal protections for about 200,000 immigrants from El Salvador was in limbo Wednesday as a deadline neared for the Trump administration to decide if they should end, as it has done for hundreds of thousands from Venezuela, Haiti and other countries. The Temporary Protected Status designation expires Wednesday but the statute does not give a specific time for when that happens. If the Department of Homeland Security takes no action, protections are automatically extended for six months. This rare reprieve happened in May, when the protections were automatically extended to about 11,000 Lebanese, allowing them to stay and work in the U.S. for another 180 days. DHS said in a statement Wednesday that it will announce a decision on El Salvador ‘at the appropriate time’ and that protections would remain in place until then.” (09/09/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/temporary-protections-for-about-200-000-22423879.php
- Bangladesh in grips of world’s worst measles outbreak, with 1,000 dead in last 6 months
Source: CBC News [Canadian state media]
“Bangladesh, which once came close to eliminating measles, is facing its worst outbreak on record, with around 1,000 suspected and confirmed measles-related deaths reported since March, as hospitals struggle with overcrowding, shortages and a continuing influx of sick children. The South Asian country is currently experiencing the biggest measles outbreak in the world, according to a list on the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, recording more than 57,000 cases between January and June. But the numbers may be far higher than that, according to Bangladesh’s Health Ministry. Since the outbreak emerged in March, Bangladesh has recorded more than 166,000 suspected measles cases, including 19,835 laboratory-confirmed infections, according to Health Ministry data.” (09/09/26)
https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/bangladesh-worst-measles-outbreak-9.7337063
- Anthropic Alignment Lead Warns There’s ‘>10% Chance’ AI Could ‘Kill All Humans’ By Next Decade
Source: Forbes
“A senior researcher who leads Anthropic’s alignment efforts said Tuesday that many in the company believed AI could wipe out humanity and warned that the company is not on track to solve the issue of aligning AI’s goals with humanity’s, despite its efforts, after another researcher quit the company, accusing it of not acting responsibly. Evan Hubinger, the Alignment Science Lead at Anthropic, wrote on X that he and his colleagues do ‘earnestly believe AI could kill all humans,’ and he pegged his own estimate at more than 10% in the next decade. … Hubinger’s post responded to an X thread by another Anthropic researcher, Jacob Coxon, who announced he is resigning from the company over AI safety concerns.” (09/09/26)
- For first time in 20 years, UN nuclear watchdog board reports Iran to UN Security Council
Source: SFGate
“The U.N. atomic watchdog’s board on Wednesday reported Iran to the U.N. Security Council for the first time in 20 years, citing it for failure to cooperate in a long-running investigation into uranium traces detected by inspectors at undeclared sites. Western officials suspect that the traces could provide evidence that Iran had a secret nuclear weapons program until 2003. Iran says that it’s not pursuing nuclear weapons, and that its program is entirely peaceful. Reporting Iran to the Security Council opens the country to possible sanctions and asset freezes, though such punitive measures are unlikely because Iran’s allies Russia and China hold veto power on the panel. Twenty-three countries on the International Atomic Energy Agency ’s 35-member board of governors voted for Wednesday’s resolution at IAEA headquarters in Vienna. ” (09/09/26)
- The Mass Party of the Future
Source: Liberal Currents
by Samantha Hancox-Li“Liberalism’s problem isn’t structural. Liberalism’s problem is that we got out-hustled.” (09/10/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/the-mass-party-of-the-future/
- Beware: Monetary Geniuses At Work
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Charles Goyette“In Washington DC, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant buffs his nail on his shirt as he intervenes in support of the Japanese yen. Well, Japan is the leading foreign creditor of Washington’s borrowing. It holds $1.2 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities, and a country like ours, the world’s largest debtor, depends on the kindness of foreign lenders. Any meaningful liquidation of those holding would be a market shock that would drive interest rates higher. So, Scott Bessent is protecting the strained Treasury market with clever currency machinations. The secretary, like the president he serves, must be a stable genius.” (09/10/26)
https://libertarianinstitute.org/articles/beware-monetary-geniuses-at-work
- What Charlie Kirk sowed
Source: UnHerd
by Richard Hanania“Tragedy has a way of unifying movements. For the Right, no recent event seemed more likely to generate such a galvanizing effect than the assassination of Charlie Kirk exactly one year ago. Kirk was the most famous conservative activist in the country, and his killing — sudden, bloody, and splashed across social media — was an act of staggering evil. Here was a man, by all accounts a decent husband and father, engaging college students in patient dialog, only to have his arguments answered by bullets. Yet the event didn’t bring the American Right together. Rather, it triggered infighting that persists to this day. To understand why, we have to be willing to honestly reassess the legacy left behind by the departed. We must even speak ill of the dead (for if we don’t, as Christopher Hitchens asked, who will?).” (09/09/260
- The Feds Are Spying on Your Bank Account
Source: Reason
by Matthew Petti“While the Treasury forces money changers to report on suspected immigrants, Homeland Security is having police pull people over for suspicious transactions.” (09/09/26)
https://reason.com/2026/09/09/the-feds-are-spying-on-your-bank-account/
- Mexican Cartel Drone Power Is Growing
Source: American Greatness
by Stephen Bryen“While much attention is given to Ukraine and Russia’s use of drones, just south of the United States, Mexico’s cartels are using drones in significant numbers, some of which surveil the United States and move drugs and cash across the border. They are also used to attack Mexican government and army organizations and competing cartels. According to one source, in 2025 the cartels flew more than 42,000 drones near the U.S. border. Around 1,000 drones each day try to cross the U.S. border, and most are not intercepted. Most of the drones used by the cartels are Chinese, and a large number have been modified either to carry explosives or drugs. The major source is the Chinese company DJI (Da Jiang Innovations), based in Shenzhen. It is the world’s biggest producer of drones, holding more than 80 percent of the world’s market.” (09/10/26)
https://amgreatness.com/2026/09/10/mexican-cartel-drone-power-is-growing/
- The Market Will Not Price In The Apocalypse
Source: Gideon’s Substack
by Noah Millman‘Because the end of the world cannot be hedged.” (09/09/26)
https://gideons.substack.com/p/the-market-will-not-price-in-the
- Digital Sovereignty: What It Is, What It Could Be
Source: Electronic Frontier Foundation
by Jillian C York & Eva Galperin“The term ‘digital sovereignty’ has become ubiquitous. European officials invoke it in debates about cloud infrastructure, AI, semiconductors, and platform regulation. Governments throughout the global majority use it to argue for greater control over data and communications infrastructure and boost their economies. Companies market ‘sovereign cloud’ products designed to reassure their customers that their information stays under local jurisdiction. But digital sovereignty could be something more: an opportunity for users around the world to build more resilient, open systems and the skills and infrastructure to maintain them.” (09/09/26)
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2026/09/digital-sovereignty-what-it-what-it-could-be
- If Most Professors Have the Same Politics, That’s Bad for Democracy
Source: Persuasion
by Hrishikesh Joshi“[I]f I get to decide what information you consume, then I can control how and what you think. Indeed, this is why authoritarian regimes tightly control media and speech within their territories. The resulting consent will then not be genuine consent. What few people notice is that the above argument carries over to the modern university system. Academia, as it currently stands, has three features that, taken together, undermine the ideals of democracy.” (09/09/26)
https://www.persuasion.community/p/de-homogenize-the-university
- Your Politics Won’t Protect You from the Surveillance State
Source: Independent Institute
by Abigail R Hall & Patrik Ward“Federal surveillance is not new, but today’s scale and scope are unprecedented. Biometric screening is pervasive across federal, state and local agencies, which share this information. Recently, the FBI announced the development of predictive AI models designed to detect potential criminal activity before it takes place. Even the laziest researcher can find many examples of abuse or the potential for abuse.” (09/09/26)
- The German Far Right’s Regional Victory Will Have Major National Consequences
Source: The UnPopulist
by Ronald Meinardus“Establishment parties have no idea how to repair this massive breach in Germany’s post-WWII firewall against resurgent fascism.” (09/09/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-german-far-rights-regional-victory
- Socialist Idiocracy
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“While it is expected that Republicans — such as Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-NC) — would object to the rise of socialist agitation in the Democratic Party, getting Democratic leaders to object to the new radicalism has not proved quite so easy.” [editor’s note: The only reason I can think of for Republicans to object to Democratic socialism is that they don’t like having their own socialist thunder stolen – TLK] (09/09/26)
- Building Power, One Person at a Time
Source: The American Prospect
by Whitney Curry Wimbish“Dio Smith had a clean record before they showed up to protest OpenAI executives’ plan to dominate American life, drain increasingly scarce resources, and otherwise steal their future. They gathered with more than 30 other students on August 10 at the artificial intelligence company’s new lobbying headquarters, just blocks from the half-destroyed White House. They dropped banners and held signs, all of which demanded that the company cease and desist. Cops closed in after two hours. They arrested 13 students, separated them by gender, sent them to two different precincts in D.C., and left OpenAI executives free to continue their $140 million-plus lobbying project to manipulate the government in their favor. Smith was in jail for six hours, taking solace from their preparation with other student organizers and reminding themselves that they were following the paths laid by their ancestors: Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Huey Newton.” (09/10/26)
https://prospect.org/2026/09/10/oct-2026-building-power-one-person-at-a-time/
- An Open Letter to Texas Evangelicals Who Want to Vote for James Talarico
Source: Roads Go Ever On
by Bekah Graham“Being involved in Texas politics for years meant I was prepared for the worst possible people to run (and likely win) as Republicans. I was also prepared for the Democratic Party of Texas to put up an uninspiring, excessively flawed, or self-interested candidate to predictably lose against the Republican ghoul. But then James Talarico got into the race. I expected that I would be letting Paxton’s trash record speak for itself, with nothing but a milquetoast Democrat or a well-meaning Libertarian to suggest against him.” (09/09/26)
https://bekahgwen.substack.com/p/an-open-letter-to-texas-evangelicals
- Americans Should Never Have Given the US Government a Pass After 9/11
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“One of the most disastrous consequences of the 9/11 aftermath was the pass that the American people gave to their own government. Their anger was focused entirely on the terrorists rather than on both the terrorists and the government that provoked the attacks. There were two reasons for this phenomenon. The biggest reason is that Americans bought into the rationale that U.S. officials immediately announced as to motive — that is, the reason the terrorists struck on 9/11 with their devastating attack. U.S. officials said that the terrorists had been motivated to strike out of a supposed hatred for America’s ‘freedom and values.’ … The second reason for Americans’ failure to focus on the responsibility that the U.S. government had for the 9/11 retaliatory strikes is that Americans viewed their federal government as their daddy, one that would never lie to them or put them in danger.” (09/09/26)
- The Framers Trusted States, Not Washington, With Elections
Source: Cato Institute
by Walter Olson“America has been a great innovator in the realm of elections, introducing many methods new developments from party primaries to early and mail voting. Some innovations fall by the wayside, while others catch on and become standard. Why trade this ferment of democracy for an arrangement where permission from Washington is required for anything new? Why risk foisting a bad method on everyone because someone in Washington liked it? Above all, the Framers did it this way because they feared that a ruling national faction, whether based in Congress or a White House, might someday gain power over election administration nationwide and use it to entrench themselves in office.” (09/09/26)
https://www.cato.org/commentary/framers-trusted-states-not-washington-elections
- You know what’s best for you
Source: Eastern New Mexico News
by Kent McManigal“What don’t I know? I don’t know exactly how you should live or every detail of your situation. I don’t know how to solve every possible random problem in the world. I don’t know what complications might arise. I don’t know solutions I can’t see or haven’t thought of. All the variables; the consequences of any potential solution. I don’t know how, or if, society should be run. I don’t know, and I accept it. While I’m comfortable saying I don’t know, there are also things I do know. I know that no one else knows those answers, either. If they claim to, they are being dishonest. Those who make up legislation are often even more ignorant about the topics they legislate on than the rest of us.” (09/09/26)
- Liberalism Under Threat
Source: Liberalism.org
by Michael C Munger“The state should not be dismissed as evil, but neither should it be romanticized as inherently good, a focus of moral value in and of itself. There are legitimate and difficult questions about whether there is a collective ‘will’ that the state discovers and enacts. The most plausible, and modest, claim is that people use the technology of ‘state power’ to provide mutual protection and achieve shared goals. The alternatives to this modest view of the state are a wide and haphazard range of different moral and practical collectivisms, imposed by central authorities. We can agree that the state must have police authority, but endowing the state with moral authority is simply incompatible with liberalism.” (09/09/26)
- Welfare Queens of the Right and the Diet Coke of Socialists
Source: The Erick Erickson Show
by Erick-Woods Erickson“The people who brought us tariffs and said they’d cost us nothing now insist that putting stay-at-home moms on welfare will cost us nothing, too, so long as they get to keep picking the winners and losers. Moms who go to work get to subsidize those who do not. The GOP gets to open a new front in the culture war, pitting moms against moms. Superficially, the policy sounds good. Children raised in stable two-parent homes outperform every other group in school and in earnings, and a policy that makes those homes easier to build deserves a hearing. … The Vice President’s heart is in the right place, but his plan is a terrible idea. In the face of rising socialism, the Vice President is offering socialism-lite. And just as Diet Coke is never as popular as regular Coke, Diet Coke Socialism can’t beat the real thing either.” (09/09/26)
https://ewerickson.substack.com/p/welfare-queens-of-the-right-and-the
- Trump Iran War Outlook Faces Pushback from His Own Generals
Source: Independent Institute
by Ivan Eland“A rare leak of significant opposition among top U.S. military brass to Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s intention to keep more than 50,000 American forces on alert in the Middle East reports a ‘more dire’ outlook for the Iran conflict’s effect on U.S. military readiness globally. According to the Washington Post, a source familiar with the generals’ assessment reported that the brass viewed the six-month war as ‘too much for too long.’ The leak was prompted by the Pentagon’s decision to keep some forces in the region into fiscal year 2027. U.S forces have been pulled from areas of the globe more strategic to U.S. interests than the Persian Gulf for a needless attack that turned into yet another American quagmire in the Greater Middle East, thus degrading worldwide training and readiness for more important missions.” (09/09/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/09/09/trump-iran-war-pushback-generals/
- Colleges are failing, but they can still spark golden age for higher education
Source: New York Post
by Charles Mitchell“And then there were fewer. That’s the reality in higher education this academic year. About two dozen colleges and universities announced plans to shut down before graduation this past spring; more than 80 colleges closed or merged between 2020 and 2025. And more than 440 private colleges are at significant risk of shutting down in the near future — about a quarter of the nationwide total. Even sports powerhouses like New York’s Syracuse University are beginning to struggle financially, The Wall Street Journal reported last month. Where I’m from, near Philadelphia, at least a dozen institutions of higher education are in perilous financial shape: They just aren’t enrolling enough students to pay the bills. It’s a gloomy picture for alumni and academics — but there’s a silver lining. These failing schools could be the launching pad for higher education’s fundamental transformation.” (09/09/26)
- The Newest Drug War Boogeyman
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Laurence M Vance“About 15 years ago, the great drug war boogeyman was bath salts. Instead of using these salts in the bathtub, people took to swallowing, snorting, injecting, smoking, and otherwise ingesting them. Fentanyl, a type of synthetic opioid more potent than heroin and morphine, soon replaced bath salts as the great drug war boogeyman. More recently, the new drug war boogeyman was nitazenes, another type of synthetic opioid. Nitazenes were said to be more potent than not only heroin and morphine but also fentanyl. The newest drug war boogeyman is kratom — leaves from a tree native to Southeast Asia that are used to increase energy and alleviate pain, coughing, anxiety, and depression.” (09/09/26)
https://www.fff.org/explore-freedom/article/the-newest-drug-war-boogeyman/
- Adjudicating “History and Tradition”
Source: Law & Liberty
by Dennis Wieboldt“A Massachusetts case reminds us of the dangers and abuses of using history in legal rulings.” (09/09/26)
- 25 Years of War Was the Exact Wrong Response to 9/11
Source: Common Dreams
by Medea Benjamin & Nicolas JS Davies“The lesson of 9/11 should be that war is not the answer to any of the problems facing the United States. After inflicting violence and chaos on country after country for twenty-five years in a ‘global war on terror’ that has evolved into a Zionist genocide and a revived Cold War against Russia and China, the widespread public opposition to Trump’s war on Iran suggests that most Americans have finally learned that lesson. Unfortunately, powerful sections of our corrupt business and political elites have not.” (09/09/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/was-the-us-reaction-to-9-11-wrong
- Home Equity and Net Worth
Source: Bet On It
by Bryan Caplan“Age is the great underrated factor. If you want to know how much home equity someone owns, knowing their percentile for their age is less informative than simply knowing their age. Almost everyone starts with low housing wealth, yet a large majority end up with massive housing wealth.” (09/09/26)
- We cannot let the left [sic] rewrite what happened on 9/11
Source: Fox News
by Liz Peek“As we approach the 25th anniversary of 9/11, there are many in our country who want us to pretend that the greatest attack on the United States since Pearl Harbor never happened. They want us to look away from the Muslim terrorists who flew planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and who drove another plane full of innocents to their deaths in a grassy Pennsylvania field. They want us to forget that on that day in 2001, Americans came under attack for reasons that few understood, from a far-away people who loathe our culture, our freedoms and our country. When Rep. Ilhan Omar [D-MN] dismissively says, ‘Some people did something’, she is trying to erase the truth. ” (09/09/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/liz-peek-cannot-let-left-rewrite-happened-911
- The Failure of Europe’s Single-Payer Health Monopoly
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Cláudia Ascensão Nunes“American progressives continue to advocate for a Medicare for All system, pointing to the Old Continent as a utopian model of universal access to health care. However, in Europe, systems in which the state functions as both direct provider and single-payer monopolist continue to fail. Contrary to the narrative pushed by certain political circles, Europeans are increasingly adopting private health insurance. The structural flaws in countries that double down on centralized, state-run models show notable consistencies: swelling waiting lists, health care professionals fleeing a public sector constrained by rigid salary scales, and a systemic inability to allocate resources where they are needed most.” (09/09/26)
https://fee.org/articles/the-failure-of-europes-single-payer-health-monopoly/
- Remapping fresh worldviews
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“The term geopolitics, frequently used in discussing global diplomacy and trade relations today, was coined only about 125 years ago. But the concept has been around far, far longer, as evident in the practice of cartography or mapmaking since ancient times. One of the earliest known world maps – created by the Babylonians in 600 B.C.E. – placed Babylonia at the center. Since then, seafaring and colonizing nations in particular have done much the same, centering their locations or adjusting sizes to project global reach and relevance. ‘A map is never neutral’, according to Robert Dussey, foreign minister of the small African nation of Togo. ‘It shapes perceptions, influences how the place of peoples and continents in the world is understood,’ he said at a United Nations briefing last week.” (09/08/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0908/Remapping-fresh-worldviews
- The PREP Act: Unchecked Power, Zero Accountability, and a Path Forward
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Robert Malone‘Beginning in February 2020, the Secretary of Health and Human Services declared that Covid-19 warranted sweeping liability protections, meaning that if someone was injured or died from a Covid-19 vaccine, treatment, or related product, they generally cannot sue for damages in court. The only exception is for ‘willful misconduct’ causing death or serious injury—an extremely high legal standard that is very difficult to prove. Instead of accessing the traditional court system, injured individuals must seek compensation through a government program that has historically been difficult to navigate and provides limited relief.” (09/09/26)
https://brownstone.org/articles/the-prep-act-unchecked-power-zero-accountability-and-a-path-forward/
- Self-Command Is the Price of Freedom
Source: Mindset Shifts
by Barry Brownstein“Those who split the world into binaries—voluntary exchange on one side, state coercion on the other—miss a lot. They miss the enormous third thing Adam Smith described: the unenforced realm of ‘propriety,’ the decency, manners, and mutual forbearances that no contract specifies and no statute compels. If we want less state, we must have more propriety. A friend of liberty has a larger stake in the moral condition of society than the statist does.” (09/09/26)
https://mindsetshifts.substack.com/p/self-command-is-the-price-of-freedom
- What Makes Pharmaceutical Speaker Programs Illegal?
Source: The Daily Economy
by Christopher Crennen“The missing consumer in health care helps explain the strange economics — and legal risks — of drug companies paying doctors.” (09/09/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/what-makes-pharmaceutical-speaker-programs-illegal/
- Why CPI Ignores Homes, Stocks, and the Cost of Getting Ahead
Source: The Daily Economy
by Karl-Friedrich Israel“Capturing only what households consume, inflation stats miss the assets they hope to own. Recent inflation has rewarded existing owners at the expense of aspiring ones.” (09/09/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/why-cpi-ignores-homes-stocks-and-the-cost-of-getting-ahead/
- Lock and [Re-]Loaded: Third Circuit Greenlights Major Challenge to NJ Gun Liability Law
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“Some of us have been closely following challenges to A1765, New Jersey’s gun industry liability law. In my view, the law is facially invalid and preempted under federal law, and we may now find out after the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit greenlit a challenge from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) yesterday. The court found that the NSSF has standing to bring the lawsuit, which could reach the United States Supreme Court. In 2022, New Jersey enacted A1765 to expose ‘gun industry members’ (gun sellers, manufacturers, distributors, importers, and marketers) to lawsuits as ‘a public nuisance’. This is a common effort among blue states to circumvent Second Amendment cases that reinforce the right to bear arms. These laws are designed to achieve indirectly what the Court denied directly to the states: to effectively suppress the availability of guns.” (09/09/26)
- Why Conservative Republicans Are Worried About License Plate Cameras
Source: Reason
by Jacob Sullum“Last month, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott froze state funding for automated license plate readers (ALPRs), acknowledging concerns about the warrantless surveillance enabled by such AI-assisted cameras. Abbott took that step the day after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a fellow Republican, declared that ALPRs are ‘out of control.’ … The congressional response to ALPRs, including several bills and an investigation that Sen. Josh Hawley (R–Mo.) announced last month, has been dominated by conservative Republicans, which confirms that the backlash is not limited to libertarian or left-leaning critics. Whether it will yield effective constraints is another question.” (09/09/26)
https://reason.com/2026/09/09/why-conservative-republicans-are-worried-about-license-plate-cameras/
- 25 Years Ago, 9/11 Triggered a US Crusade of Torture
Source: Antiwar.com
by Norman Solomon“A quarter-century has passed since the terrorist attack that killed almost 3,000 people in the United States on Sept. 11, 2001. During the first seven years after that mass atrocity, Pentagon spending doubled. The aftermath of 9/11 was also a huge boost for ‘the intelligence community.’ Despite – and because of – their failure to prevent the carnage on that day, the CIA and the National Security Agency as well as 14 smaller spy agencies boomed with enormous jolts of funds. Along the way, some line items paid for torture that persisted during the George W. Bush presidency under the euphemism of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques.'” (09/09/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/solomon/2026/09/08/25-years-ago-9-11-triggered-a-us-crusade-of-torture/
- Hegseth has been a disaster. It’s time for Trump to fire him.
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Daniel L Davis“On November 12, 2024, I went on NBC News when Hegseth had been announced as Trump’s nominee for secretary of defense and argued that Hegseth might be just what we need, instead of another standard military-industrial-complex ‘veteran’ who never met a war he didn’t like. But I included two key caveats in my support. First, I argued that he had to be different from his predecessors and not just be a yes-man who prosecutes wars even if a sober analysis reveals we could not win them. Second, I warned that if we continued to support other wars and saw our stocks of key weapons systems plummet – especially missiles – he had to tell the president we could not go down that path (as it would put our own national security in unnecessary peril). Hegseth violated both of those warnings.” (09/09/26)
- The Tom Woods Show, episode 2794
Source: The Tom Woods Show
“He Went to the Places the State Department Says Will Kill You.” (09/10/26)
https://tomwoods.com/ep-2794-he-went-to-the-places-the-state-department-says-will-kill-you/
- Fountainhead Forum, episode 485
Source: Fountainhead Forum
“Panel discussion in honor of Brian Doherty.” (09/09/26)
https://rumble.com/v7fasoe-ff-485-tribute-panel-for-brian-doherty.html
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/09/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Pakistan May Launch Airstrikes in Yemen, Trump Threatens More Attacks on Iranian Tankers, and More.” (09/09/26)
- Kibbe on Liberty, episode 485
Source: Free the People
“Libertarians Are Avenging Massie | Guest: Jeremy Todd.” (09/09/26)
- LPA Two Hour Lunch Hour, episode 10
Source: LP Alliance
“Join us for our anything goes podcast every Wednesday at noon eastern!” (09/09/26)
- The Kyle Anzalone Show, 09/09/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“America’s Iran War Is Unraveling — Is Ukraine the Next Domino?” (09/09/26)
- So to Speak: The Free Speech Podcast, 09/09/26
Source: Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
“What’s the First Amendment’s original meaning? w/ Jud Campbell and Stephen Solomon.” (09/09/26)
- Reason Interview: Jon Ronson
Source: Reason
“Why So Many Men Feel Lost.” (09/09/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/09/09/why-so-many-men-feel-lost/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 09/09/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“Gallup: 89% of America Sees Widespread Corruption In Government.” (09/09/26)
- Rising, 09/09/26
Source: The Hill
‘VP JD Vance’s socialist welfare Plan exposed: Conservatives Feuding!” (09/09/26)
- Reasonably Optimistic, 09/09/26
Source: Washington Post
“The strange truth behind our obsession with UFOs and aliens.” (09/09/26)
- Freedom Works with Paul Molloy, 09/09/26
Source: Freedom Works
“Ryan Young, Competitive Enterprise Institute ‘US-Canada Trade War.'” (09/09/26)
https://internetradiopros.com/freedomworks/?name=2026-09-09_zfw89022026.mp3
- The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg, 09/09/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Telephone Killed the Convention | Interview: Chris Stirewalt.” (09/09/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/telephone-killed-the-convention-interview-chris-stirewalt/
- Politics Politics Politics, 09/08/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Why It’s So Hard to Make Sense of These Midterms (with Chris Cillizza).” (09/08/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/why-its-so-hard-to-make-sense-of
- Show-Me Institute, 09/09/26
Source: Show-Me Institute
“A Better Way to Teach History with Jon Bassett and Gary Shiffman.” (09/09/26)
- Real Unity, episode 21
Source: Free the People
“Honor, Legacy, and the Gods: Building a Modern Norse Spiritual Community | Devin Rogers.” (09/09/26)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/08/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“US Bombs More Iranian Tankers; IRGC Hits Back, Major Ansar Allah Attacks on Saudi Arabia, and More.” (09/08/26)
- Nonzero, 09/08/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Israel’s Lobby | Robert Wright, Eli Clifton, and Ian Lustick.” (09/08/26)
- Scooter Downey on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“Scott interviews Scooter Downey, a producer at the Tucker Carlson Network, about his new documentary series on the Oklahoma City bombing.” (09/08/26)
- Reason Roundtable, 09/08/26
Source: Reason
“Why Public Schools Lost 1.4 Million Students.” (09/08/26)
https://reason.com/podcast/2026/09/08/why-public-schools-lost-1-4-million-students/